Grammy-winning producer, writer and ethnomusicologist Christopher C. King received honorary Greek citizenship in a special ceremony held Monday attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion.
King was sworn in with the Secretary General of Citizenship of the Interior Ministry, Athanasios Balermpas.
King’s description when he presented a TedX talk titled ” The Healing Music of Epirus | Christopher C. King | TEDxAthens – YouTuberead: “A southern gentleman in the United States discovers the folk music of rural Greece that is full of meaning – the music here is meant to heal those who hear it, to participate in it.”
He was born and raised in southwestern Virginia and studied philosophy at Radford University. For the past ten years, he has been researching the tradition of Greek demotika chants, particularly in Epirus.
In 2018, WW Norton published his critically acclaimed book “Lament from Epirus: An Odyssey into Europe’s Old Surviving Folk Music“.
His book was named one of the ten best books of 2018 by the Wall Street Journal, and he has featured his work at the New York Public Library, Gennadius Library in Athens, and Odeon Conservatory in Athens, among other places.
